Do you want to fuel agency growth for your small-to-midsized PR firm? since you’re reading this blog, I’m guessing the answer is “yes.”

But have you ever said the following: “We’re too small to:

…get our clients to measure our results in a more meaningful way.”

…ask our clients to pay for our strategic thinking.”

…implement staff training.”

…hire a social media specialist.”

Agency leaders can implement the aforementioned steps–or not–but don’t let your current size prevent you from doing so.  Perpetually thinking like a small agency will only keep you where you are.

But acting like an owner of the agency the size you want yours to be–in one, three, or five years–is a proven method to get you there, and faster.

Here are five steps you can take to accelerate your agency’s growth:

1)  Carefully observe the agencies you admire that are larger than yours. Learn all you can about their employee attraction and retention plans, including benefits, morale-builders and rewards, and think about how you can apply these to your own firm. Pay particular attention to how you can motivate staff and build their loyalty in non-monetary ways.

2)  Vow that this is the year to get ahead of your clients on issues like measurement and evaluation, effectively using social media, and designing truly integrated campaigns.  Hire the most senior PR staffers that you can possibly afford.  Having PR pros who can grow your business and counsel the C-suite is one of the best investments you can make in your business. And if you can hire execs who are smarter than you, so much the better.

3)  Stop doing, start leading: Many small agency leaders find growing their agencies challenging, because they’re still spending too much time in PR execution. But while there are others at your firm who can “do,” yours is probably the only one whose job description includes looking to the future, creating the agency vision, and persuading your followers to help you achieve it. That’s job #1, and doing it is the most important action you can take to make your agency the one you envision.

4)  Train, train, train: Competing effectively with agencies your size, and potentially larger ones, requires a team of individuals who are at the very top of their games. Professional development, whether via a formal agency training program, individual workshops, brown bag lunch ‘n learns, external sessions, or a combination thereof, will help fuel your growth.

5) Reach out to the owners of the agencies in tip one.   Ask them to share what they would have done differently, if they “knew then what they know now.”   Owners of PR firms are a supportive lot, and you may be surprised how much they’ll be willing to share with you.